Substations

New substations are multi-million dollar investments that DP&L makes to improve service for our customers. We’ve added several substations in the past few years in Miami Valley areas where the demand for power is increasing. New substations increase reliability and provide us with added flexibility when dealing with outages.

Tree Trimming

Trees and other vegetation can pose safety risks and interrupt your power. Removing potentially dangerous tree limbs helps us improve the reliability of our service and is mandated by Ohio and Federal law. It also ensures the safety of our crews as well as our customers.

DP&L trims trees along 2,100 miles of overhead distribution power lines per year on average. Every five years we inspect 14,000 miles of distribution lines through our service area. Four times a year we use a helicopter to view 19,000 miles of transmission lines from our power plants by the Ohio River to identify any threats to our ability to provide service to the Miami Valley.

During the last several years, we’ve dramatically reduced outages caused by trees and limbs falling on power lines by increasing trimming and removal of trees in the utility easement. This “right of way” is the area around our power lines and poles that needs to be clear for maintenance and to prevent trees from interfering with the operation of the lines.

Some years our work plan requires more spending than other years, depending on the amount of trimming that needs to be done in an area.

Pole Replacement

We also inspect 42,500 poles every year. Between our pole replacement program and the occasional auto or other accident, we replace 1,250 to 2,500 poles in a typical year. Once every 10 years, each of the company's 340,000 poles are inspected to determine if the pole is structurally sound or has been damaged by nature, auto accidents or severe weather.

Equipment Inspections

Overhead & Underground

DP&L also inspects the hardware and mechanical equipment above and below ground that delivers the power to our customers over a five year cycle.